Play My Game
by itachi-is-here
Summary: Arthur Kirkland is a psychologist specialising in adolescents who can't remember his childhood. When Alfred F. Jones, a patient who claims that he can see mythical creatures, is assigned to him, will it uncover everything he can't remember? Eventual USUK.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello again! Multi-fic again! :D This is a USUK that had a lot of psychology terms incorporated into it. You can actually probably see exactly where this is headed because obvious author is obvious. -_- But, I hope you enjoy it anyways.**

**Note: At first, I made Arthur out to be 21 years old, then I realised what a huge plot hole that would turn out to be, so I changed it. He is now 26, and skipped two years of school. And his relationship with Alfred is borderline pedophilia-ish. Oh well.**

**Disclaimer: I owned Hetalia, once upon a time. Until the lawyers took it from me. :(**

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><p>Didn't you hear?<p>

_Shallow breathing._

That boy, Peter Kirkland?

_Footsteps. Running._

Oh yes. Such a shame, really. He was so lively, and quite cute.

_Slamming doors._

I hear his brother, Arthur, hasn't been the same since.

_Frantic searching._

Really? That's another shame. He was such a nice boy. Very polite.

_Tears. Staining the floor._

_We're sorry, brother._

_We couldn't save you this time._

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><p>Dr. Kirkland stepped into his office that morning, feeling like he did every other day. He felt normal and content. He prided himself on being such, maybe a little young for his job (he was only twenty-six, after all) but still utterly average. Arthur grew up in England with his two parents and three elder brothers. His parents said he had a normal childhood, albeit being bullied by his brothers. He didn't believe that, though. They'd always been really nice to him. However, he couldn't really say it wasn't true, since he couldn't remember anything about it, but it never bothered him. He had the exceptional school grades he strived for, a peaceful and average social life, and a loving family. That was all he could have asked for. He went to high school, graduated with honours, and shipped off to the US to attend his collage of choice. He studied to become a clinical psychologist specialising in adolescent behaviours, which included six years in a PsyD doctorate program, and got a good job at the Willard State Hospital (located in Willard, NY) as one of the top psychologists in the place. It could be a fairly unsettling job, but it paid his bills, made his parents proud, and he got to help kids, hopefully, get their lives back on track.<p>

Arthur set his briefcase next to his computer chair before sitting down in it, and taking a look at the files placed on his desk. There were a few new cases coming in: The first was young French kid named Francis Bonnefoy who's father thought he was a sexual deviant and diagnosed as severely narcissistic. The second, a Spanish teen named Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, who was displaying an unhealthy obsession with a classmate (probably minor, borderline- type emotionally-unbalanced personality disorder). The third was a German boy named Gilbert Beilschmidt with Histrionic personality disorder. And the fourth: a pair of twins.

The younger twin's name was Matthew Williams, a native-born Canadian who displayed symptoms of severe passive-aggressive disorder. He appeared very quiet and shy, almost invisible to his peers. Extremely polite and kind with a strange attachment to a polar bear plush he received as a child. However, when provoked enough, he bottles his anger and then lashes out at innocent people, becoming extremely violent. He had gone as far as to beat his twin brother to a near-death state with a hockey stick and throwing him out a window, which was why he was being admitted now.

His twin, named Alfred F. Jones, wasn't being admitted for trauma, however. That was the first unusual thing about this case. He wasn't nearly as traumatised as he should have been, seeing as how his own twin brother had nearly killed him. The previous psychologists Alfred had seen after the incident, said he spoken so casually about it, even smiling as he remembered his brother apologising profusely for hitting him.

Alfred F. Jones was being admitted for a whole different reason. He claimed he could see ghosts.

He had a minor hero-complex to boot, but his parents weren't worried about that. Neither were his doctors. Alfred claimed he could see and interact with "ghosts". His psychologists thought he might have schizophrenia, but the hallucinations hadn't been vicious, nor driving him to do self-destructive things. He seemed to be able to hold pleasant conversations with the air, and thought nothing strange of it. The strangest part of this case however, was that the "ghosts" he saw, he didn't even refer to as ghosts. He would call them by different mythological creature names. He would talk to his doctors about his "faerie" friends or his one specific "unicorn" friend. He even came up with one named "Flying Mint Bunny". One common thing his previous doctors noticed, was that there was only one hallucination he didn't like to talk about. It was apparently a small child, that scared Alfred terribly. He claimed that the child wasn't around often, but when it was around, it didn't speak. It just stared at him and gave him a feeling of utter dread and fear.

After reading Alfred's file, he decided that the twin's cases were ones he would be taking on personally.

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><p><strong>AN: Short intro. I didn't even know it was so short. Damn you, iPhone notes and your deceiving misconceptions! Anyways, drop a review if you like! I don't really know if I like this fic, anyways. :/**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's Chapter 2! Thank you so much for all of the review and alert/favs, even if it's only been a day. This is kind of a filler chapter, but there's a cliffhanger for you, plus Arthur and Alfred meet. And Ludwig is a doctor! Yay! He helps crazy people, too! Enjoy. :)**

**Oh, and Katherzig is Ludwig's last name here, since it can't be Beilschmidt for certain reasons. The nurse is random, unimportant OC. **

**Disclaimer: Shut up. Stop rubbing it in that I don't own Hetalia.**

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><p>Dr. Kirkland had been filling out paperwork all morning. He just couldn't catch a break. He decided that he would take on all five cases that landed on his desk that morning, and the transfer papers and note taking and various other medical papers just wouldn't stop flooding in. It seemed that for every one sheet he finished, five more would appear on his desk. Arthur hadn't had this much work since he first started working at the hospital, and coincidentally since he stopped smoking, so he decided that a ten-minute break outside was just what he needed.<p>

Arthur checked the time on his watch: 11:43 am. _Perfect._ The five new teens were supposed to arrive at the facility at exactly noon. That gave Arthur plenty of time to go outside and light up a fag. Lord knows he needed it.

He got up from his chair and strolled out of his office, giving the nurse at the front desk a polite nod and smile and an explanation as to where he was headed. As soon as he got past security and stepped outside, he was reminded once again about why he chose to live in New York. It had rained all morning, it seemed and Arthur was all but basking in the fresh smell of the world around him. It felt just like he was back in England. If there was one thing Arthur loved, it was the smell of the Earth after a heavy rain. Rain wasn't dreadful to him, rather it gave him gentle taste as to what inner peace felt like.

He pulled out the carton of fags he always kept in his coat pocket (he knew he wouldn't give up smoking that easily, so he kept a stash in his pocket) and lit it up. He took a drag and watched the grey smoke billow and curl in the cleansed air around him. He thought back to his life in England; of the family he left behind for America. His lovely mother with her warm smiles and beautiful green eyes, so similar to his own. His father's gentlemanly, yet always charming attitude and constant praise for all of his son's accomplishments. His four older brothers, and their kind, yet almost too polite behaviour towards him. How he missed them, especially now, standing in the wake of a rain shower that never failed to swath him in reminders and memories. He didn't even realise when the fag burned out and slipped from his fingers. How a few tears escaped his eyes and travelled down his pale cheeks.

Arthur stood there for a few more minutes, lost in his memories, until a line of cars pulled in past the front gates of the facility. He realised that he had stayed outside too long, and quickly straightened himself out before walking back inside to his office.

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><p>Arthur finished off the remaining papers on his desk with a flourish of his pen and stood from his place to hand them in to their respective recipients. He secretly hoped to get a glimpse at the teenagers he would be working with in the halls. He got to the front desk and asked the nurse there for an update.<p>

"So, have the new kids settled in yet?" Arthur asked with a smile, handing over his papers.

The woman blushed and took them, turning to organise them, and answered, "Yes. They're currently being given a tour of the facility. It shouldn't take that long, so they'll be shown to their rooms soon, I suspect." she put the last paper into its respective folder and turned to face him again.

Arthur chuckled and said, "Anything else I need to sign? I'd like to know before my hand falls off."

The nurse laughed back and said, "Well, there isn't anything you need to sign, but you should know that it's been decided that you can't take all of those kid's cases. You'll be working with Dr. Katherzig." she said. "He'll be taking French boy, the Spanish boy, and the German boy personally, and you'll have the twins. But, all of them will see both of you for certain other problems they happen to have.

Arthur nodded and thanked her with a charming smile. He rather enjoyed working with Ludwig Katherzig, so that was good. And he got the twin's cases! He smiled all the way back to his office and waited for the teen's scheduled lunch. He would make his appearance and meet them, then. Arthur was rather excited for once, and ignored the swirling feeling in his gut that was telling him something was wrong.

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><p>The nurse from the front desk called his office phone and informed him that the teens were in the canteen for lunch, and that Dr. Katherzig was going to meet them. Arthur said a quick "thank you" and hung up before getting up and fixing his appearance. He walked down the halls to the canteen and peeked inside the doors. In the table farthest from him sat three mischievous looking boys, who Arthur identified as Gilbert Beilschmidt, Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo, and Francis Bonnefoy. At the table next to them were Matthew Williams and Alfred Jones. Arthur had seen pictures of Alfred, but the second he laid his eyes on Alfred, something clicked in his brain.<p>

Alfred F. Jones looked so familiar, that it almost made him want to call his mother and ask her if she knew any blond, blue-eyed American boys and if he had ever met them, too. The messy, golden-blond hair, the sky-blue eyes hidden by glasses, the tanned skin and muscular build; everything. It was all so familiar to Arthur, to the point where he could just guess what the boy smelled like and how his arms felt around his body. The familiarity crashed over him like a wave, and before he knew it, he was practically sprinting across the room to stand in front of Alfred. He looked up from his food and right into Arthur's green eyes. Arthur smiled and stuck his hand out, hoping the boy would take it and recognise him, too.

"Hello! I'm Dr. Arthur Kirkland and I'm going to be yours and your brother's personal therapist here. You may call me Arthur, though."

Alfred took Arthur's hand in both of his and shook it with a sunny smile. He spoke with a tiny trace of a southern accent.

"Hi, I'm Alfred F. Jones. And the kid next to me is my twin, Mattie. It's a real pleasure, Arthur."

The two of them smiled at each other.

A hidden pair of blue eyes looked upon the scene with malice and a hint of jealousy.

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><p>Arthur had reluctantly retracted his hand from Alfred's as Dr. Katherzig motioned him over. Arthur excused himself and walked over to meet the hulking, blond doctor.<p>

"Hello, Dr. Katherzig. I hear we'll be working together?" he said.

"Yes. I'm pleased they put us together." Ludwig said.

"I am, as well. Shall we introduce ourselves to all of them, then?" he offered with a polite smile.

"Yes, of course. But…I have something I must inform you of, first." Ludwig said, a hint of nervousness in his tone.

"Yes?"

"I think Gilbert Beilschmidt is my little brother."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ahh, crap chapter is crap. Not much to say, really. Enjoy!**

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><p>"You think he's <em>what<em>?" Arthur asked, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"I think he's my little brother." Ludwig bit his lip. "I always knew that I had a little brother, but I didn't know who he was. I accidentally stumbled upon a picture of him while cleaning my mother's house after she died." he looked Arthur dead in the eyes. "He looks exactly like the boy in the picture. Plus, my mother left my father and I when I was ten. I'm twenty-seven, and Gilbert is seventeen." Ludwig ended his little speech with an unreadable glance towards the albino teen sitting across the canteen. That had probably been the most Arthur had ever heard the stoic doctor speak.

"But, wouldn't his last name be the same as yours if he had been your once-married mother's child?" Arthur asked, looking skeptical.

"She dropped her married name when they divorced." Ludwig explained. "She had been having an affair with another man, whose last name was Beilschmidt. They were married shortly after the divorce, and my father got full custody of me while my mother took the child she was pregnant with. That child was Gilbert."

Arthur just gaped at Ludwig in shock before asking, "Does Gilbert know that he's your little brother?"

Ludwig bit his lip again and sighed. "No, and I have no plans to tell him. For all I know, he thinks his step-father is his biological father." He looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking again. "Actually, he probably does. My mother didn't get custody of Gilbert when her and Beilschmidt divorced. Normally, the primary custody of the child or children will go to whoever is blood-related to them in a situation like his, unless there's abuse or neglect on their part." Ludwig sighed again and massaged his temples. Arthur just cast him a sympathetic glance.

"Well," Arthur started awkwardly, "Do you want me to be his personal doctor? It'd save you the trouble with personal attachment." he asked.

Ludwig looked thoughtful again, before shaking his head. "He'll be seeing us both, anyways. I might as well just keep the situation as is." he said.

"Alright." Arthur sighed. "Let's just introduce ourselves first, and hope they don't cause a huge mess of trouble."

"I agree." Ludwig chuckled a bit. "Besides, I hope I can relate to him to some extent. We are our father's children, after all."

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><p>Arthur loudly cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of his five new charges.<p>

"Hello, I'm Dr. Arthur Kirkland," he gestured to the icy blond next to him and said, "And this is Dr. Ludwig Katherzig." Ludwig gave a nod to the group and Arthur started what he liked to call his "typical introduction speech".

"Starting today, we will be your new personal psychologists. Our main focus is to aid you all with your personal problems, and to help you adjust and deal with your previously diagnosed mental states, as well as divulge deeper into what the other doctors have claimed."

Ludwig took off from where Arthur stopped. "You will all be seen by both of us, considering that we understand different aspects of psychology better than the other. However, you will all be split up and assigned to one of us for your main therapy sessions. The assignments are as follows." he cleared his throat. "Antonio Fernández-Carriedo, Francis Bonnefoy, and," he paused. "Gilbert Beilschmidt will be working with me. Alfred F. Jones and Matthew Williams will be working with Dr. Kirkland."

"We will give you time to finish eating and settle in, but you will be escorted to our respective offices one at a time for some personal introductions." said Arthur. "You will also find that, along with your approved personal items, a schedule will be given to you depicting your therapy sessions and classes."

"Since all of you are not of legal adult age, it is mandatory that you take school classes. We have teachers on staff who will be working with you, you have us, and a group session will be held once a week with either one of the two of us, or a different doctor that we have approved." finished Ludwig.

Arthur politely smiled at his new group of charges. This was going to be difficult, but he was willing to deal with it. He had the strange feeling that these kids would change everything for him. For the better or the worse, Arthur wasn't sure, but he was going to take the chance and find out.

"Dr. Katherzig and I will see you later, then."

After the exit of their doctors, the five new teens immediately burst into animated chatter. Alfred and Matthew moved to sit at the same table as the other three, hoping to share their thoughts on the doctors as well.

"Hey guys!" said Alfred as he sat down, consequently pulling his twin with him. "I'm Alfred F. Jones and this is my twin, Mattie Williams." he said, grinning and flashing a hero-pose while Matthew just raised a hand and smiled shyly in greeting. The trio in front of them all grinned back and introduced themselves.

"_Hallo_, I'm Gilbert Beilschmidt, but you can call me 'Awesome'." said the albino kid, winking at Matthew. He had a thick German accent and a toothy, mischievous grin.

"_¡Hola! Me llamo_ Antonio Fernández-Carriedo and I looove tomatoes and cute things!" the dark-haired one gushed, smiling brightly at the twins. "Especially my little Lovi~!" he added, getting a faraway, dreamy look in his green eyes.

The other two boys just rolled their own eyes, and the wavy-haired blond took that opportunity to introduce himself.

"_Bounjour_, I am Francis Bonnefoy, and I must say you two are a sight for sore eyes in such a bland place. Especially you, _petit Mathieu_." he said, smiling flirtatiously at the twins (much to Gilbert's dismay).

Alfred just smiled back cheerfully while Matthew blushed ten different shades of red. "Well, it's nice to meet y'all!" said Alfred.

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><p>"So, what'd you think of those two docs, huh?" he said, looking excitedly at the trio.<p>

Francis was the first to speak. "Oh, the shorter one was quite adorable, however those eyebrows were terrible! Like caterpillars!" he exclaimed, looking horrified, while Gilbert just rolled his eyes.

"The taller one, Katherzig, was it? Yeah, him. He kept looking at me funny; like he knew me or something." he said, frowning a bit. Antonio seemed to snap out of his dreamy state, because he started chattering about the two doctors.

"I think the tall one seemed pretty nice, though! He was gruff, but he didn't seem mean. But the short one," Antonio almost frowned. "He seemed nice, but there was something familiar about him. I feel like I didn't like him, if we really had ever met."

That's when Alfred chimed in. "He seemed familiar to me, too! And he was all smiley and shook my hand, but it felt wrong. I felt like we shouldn't really get along or somethin'." Matthew bit his lip and looked away from Alfred, but said nothing.

Gilbert gazed at Matthew with a suspicious gleam in his red eyes. He decided that he would find out why everyone was acting so strange, starting with the little birdie in front of him.

Hidden blue eyes glared venomously at the Albino, and then the shorter twin.

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><p><strong>AN: Me no like ending. :( Oh well. Hope you liked!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the wonderful reviewer who actually got me working on this: carolxchan. Thank you so much! You pulled me out of my writer's block!**

**I sincerely apologise for my terrible, OOC writing of Alfred and Arthur. D: And my terrible writing in general. This is so rushed...  
><strong>

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><p>Lunch ended, and the boys were escorted to their assigned rooms. Matthew and Gilbert, Francis and Antonio, and Alfred and a mysterious (and quite large) Russian boy all had shared rooms. Alfred was reluctant to let his twin go with "that German pervert", but alas, there was nothing he could do about it. So he decided ranting to his faerie friend, Tink, was the most sensible thing to do now that he was alone.<p>

"I can't believe they didn't room me with Mattie!" Alfred pouted, crossing his arms and staring up at Tink. She just smiled, laughed, and shook her head, indicating that she found his childish behaviour hilarious. That made him pout even more.

"Don't laugh at me, Tink!" he exclaimed, flailing his previously akimbo arms excitedly. "That albino really is a pervert! He wouldn't stop staring at Mattie during lunch!" he exclaimed, his blond eyebrows creasing inwards.

"And then there's my new doctor." he said. "Did you feel like he was kinda off, too? Everyone else did." Her wings started to flutter nervously, something Alfred knew she did when she was being forced to hide something. She just shook her tiny head and started at Alfred, waiting for him to respond. He made a little, "Hmmmm..." sound and started to think about what could possibly have given him those feelings about his new doctor.

And then, it happened.

Alfred felt the creeping sense of fear run down his spine before he even knew that those familiar eyes were upon him. Slowly, he craned his neck to the corner directly behind himself and found himself staring at the muddled blue eyes of the spirit that had been haunting him for years. The spirit stared straight back at him; the darkness that was shrouding its figure seemed to curl itself into a malicious grin.

But something about it was different this time.

For the first time since Alfred had encountered the dark spirit of the child, it was doing more than lurking and scaring the ever-loving crap out of him. In fact, Alfred had noted, it was moving out of its little corner and straight towards his prone and terrified form. It seemed like it was just leisurely floating on-

_Wait._

'A malicious spirit that's lurked around in corners and scared me ever since I was a child _is currently moving towards me for the first time._'

Alfred let out a blood-curling scream as he scrambled from his bed and flattened himself against the door to his new room.

And that was how the nurses found him.

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><p>"Alfred," Dr. Kirkland began. "What happened in your room that caused you to act in such a way?"<p>

Alfred bit his lip and diverted his eyes away from his doctors, obviously very nervous and high-strung. Despite this, Alfred began to speak.

"Well...There's this-this spirit that's lurked around me for practically my entire life. It just...sits there, and...waits. Like it just wants to sit there and stare at me." he said, pulling his long legs up onto the chair to curl against his chest.

"But it... It moved towards me today. It's never done that, ever." he explained, the haunted look in his eyes making the blue in them turn darker. "It was terrifying." he whispered, more to himself than to Arthur.

The pity Arthur felt stabbing at his heart went undetected in his expression, as he carefully shuffled some papers on his desk. Moments later, the silence was broken by Arthur.

"Alfred, I know it must have been terrifying for you. But, you have to understand that you are in control of what's going on around you." He said, green eyes hardening as blue ones looked up into them, scared and unsure.

"If you let these... 'spirits' get to you, then they'll continue to plague you. You have the power. You can make this thing go away." he explained.

Alfred looked thoughtful, and the hugged his legs tighter and whispered an uncharacteristically quiet "thank you". And then, for the first time during that session, Arthur gently smiled.

Arthur's way with words was what made him so successful when dealing with adolescents. His personal theory was that telling a child they were crazy only solidified that fact in reality. If you could breach their mental state as delicately and ambiguously as possible, then you could slowly ease them into realising that they need help. Once they realise that, they'll turn to the person that was helping them before, and Arthur was sure as all hell going to help Alfred.

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><p>Suddenly, Alfred let out a raucous laugh in the silence, completely destroying any tense mood that previously lingered in the office. He let his legs hit the ground as he held his sides in full-on, blissful laughter.<p>

"Ahahahaha, oh God, Tink, stop it!" Alfred was laughing hysterically, as if someone had just told the funniest joke in the entire world. Arthur found himself wanting to join in Alfred's carefree and childish behaviour.

'Wait, he's laughing about something that he's under the impression a _faerie_ is telling him. Why would I want to join in laughing, again?' Arthur berated himself, simply staring at Alfred vacantly as the laughter began to die down. He snapped himself out of his thoughts, and cleared his throat to get the teen's attention.

"What were you laughing at, Alfred?" he asked, a polite smile plastered on his face.

Alfred let out a little giggle, and then, "Oh, just my friend Tink cracking some jokes. No big deal." he replied, his grin getting wider. Now, Arthur couldn't help but feel irrationally suspicious. He raised an…erm…_impressive_ eyebrow at his patient's actions, and a mildly irritated "What?" slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it.

Again, Alfred's grin grew until the doctor was sure it would split his cheery face. "She's sitting on your right shoulder, mocking your eyebrows. That's what." He snickered. "She's speaking in some foreign language that I can't understand, but I know mocking when I see it." Arthur's face turned a shade of red that was nearly as impressive as his eyebrows, and with some muttered cursing under his breath and a heavy sigh, he pressed the button on his office phone to call a nurse.

"'Scuse me, can I have a nurse to come escort patient Alfred F. Jones back to his room? Thank you." Said the doctor, polite tone forced. Alfred couldn't help but frown.

"Aww, you're making me go back there already?" he asked, a cute ('What? Cute? No, that's wrong! Bad Arthur! I can't possibly find this boy attractive in any sort of way!'), tanned face.

A sigh, and a "Yes, Alfred. You're going back to your room for the rest of the day. I'll check in on you before I leave for the night, alright?" had to be explained before Alfred could wipe the pout off of his face and perk up. The nurses came to pick Alfred up from Arthur's office, and the only parting gestures were a, "See ya, Artie!', a skipped heartbeat accompanied by a blush, and an inner, 'My name is not Artie, it's Arthur! That stupid git…'

And, as Alfred was escorted back to his room, Arthur could have sworn he had also heard a whispered, 'Please remember, Arthur.' in his right ear. The doctor simply blamed it on Alfred's claims making his body hypersensitive.

What Arthur had never taken into account, however, was how he had understood what the faerie had said.

All faeries in the common faerie-tales supposedly spoke Welsh. A language he had never learned.

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><p><strong>AN: I promise, I'll get in some German drama next chapter! I just needed to get this one out here. And to anyone reading To Dream, I'm almost done with the next chapter, and I think it might be the longest.**

**And with the faerie language thing, I know lots of faeries in fairy-tales probably don't speak Welsh, but it's important, so they do in this universe. :P**

**Thank you, and I hope you enjoyed!**


	5. Author's Note

Herro. I think... I'll finish this story. I apologise for leaving it so long, but I fell from the fandom. I think I'm back, so look forward to some updates? Thank you all who followed and faved this story. I love you all.


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